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Andres Gomez Recalls Beating Agassi At Roland Garros
2 Comments · Posted by Scoop Malinowski in Bios
One of the most memorable Roland Garros finals was the 1990 classic when no. 4 seed Andres Gomez defeated 3 seed Andre Agassi 63 26 64 64.
I saw Gomez watching some junior matches at the Eddie Herr tournament in November and asked him a few questions about the highlight moment of his ATP career which included 21 singles titles and 33 doubles titles.
“It was easy. That was easy for me,” Gomez laughed. “I liked his game. I liked my chances. And I was due for it. I paid my dues. I had chances before to make a deep run and I was always beaten by Lendl. I lost five times to Lendl at the French. So that year that he wasn’t there – it was an opportunity for me.”
Gomez was 30 year old in the French Open final, compared to the 20 year old Agassi. Each was playing in his first major singles final, though Gomez won the 1988 French Open and 1986 US Open doubles titles (Gomez was ranked no. 1 in doubles in 1986).
“I was the more experienced of the two. I beat him before. And I like his game to play against my game at the time. Maybe after that his game and my game changed and he became a different kind of player.”
Agassi mentioned in his book OPEN that during the final vs Gomez he was enduring the distraction of a wig malfunction. Gomez smiled at that suggestion: “Well, maybe his hair started falling out after that, I don’t know [smiles]. I’m not sure.”
Gomez said he has only encountered Agassi a few times since their historic clash in Paris. “I’ve seen him a few times. Andre is a guy that isn’t around much at tournaments. But this year is 30 years from our match at the French. I’m trying to get him to come down to Ecuador. Just play six or eight games. Steffi was there before…Stephanie was there before. She was in Galapagos Islands. They can bring the kids, enjoy the time. Play a set or two, do the clinics. It will be great.”
The 1990 French Open final was the last meeting between Gomez and Agassi, Gomez won the head to head 3-2.
1987 Tokyo hard Gomez 62 60
1988 Stuttgart clay Agassi 64 62
1989 Boston clay Gomez 76 67 62
1990 Miami hard Agassi 67 62 63
1990 Roland Garros clay Gomez 63 26 64 64
Gomez won one more singles title after his French Open conquest, in Brazil in 1991 on indoor carpet vs Javier Sanchez 64 36 63. Gomez reached no. 4 in the world in singles in June 1990.
Gomez played his last ATP main draw match as a doubles wildcard in Quito, Ecuador in 2004, parterning with Luis Morejon, falling to Santiago Gonzalez and Alejandro Hernandez 64 76.
Andres Gomez · Ecuador · Roland Garros
JohnnyTD · June 8, 2020 at 3:18 pm
Gomez was very aggressive, playing a lot inside the baseline, Andre couldn’t adapt. Gomez had very good wrist and lots of power.
Scoop Malinowski · June 8, 2020 at 3:21 pm
In our conversation after I stopped the recorder, Andres said he serve and volleyed quite a bit in the match. Said it was easier for him to serve and volley on clay than on hard court. The pounding on his lower joints was not as damaging on clay as hard.